Bonvoy Brilliant Vs Hilton Surpass

[Zig32]

Going to apply to one of these cards shortly. My fav hotel is under the Hilton umbrella but Marriott has a lot more suitable brands. What's the target score for these cards and which would you prefer?

[coldfusion]

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@Zig32 wrote:

Going to apply to one of these cards shortly. My fav hotel is under the Hilton umbrella but Marriott has a lot more suitable brands. What's the target score for these cards and which would you prefer?

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So many questions

Criteria for approval for either family is going to be essentially the same, so your first best step is to confirm what AMEX will prequalify you for. Obviously if you target the Marriott card your only AMEX option is the Brilliant and its $450 AF; if you have an issue with that (even with the easy $300 back in Marriott spend) you're looking at Chase. 

If you have a relevant prequal odds of approval are high regardless of your EX FICO 8 score.  It's best if you're at least in the 680-690 range but people can and do get approved with lower scores. 

Personal preference is Marriott partly because my Brilliant was converted over from a SPG Luxury but go with your preferred/most commonly used chain. 

[babygirl1256]

Zig32 ~ I prefer Marriott hotels -and- have been staying there since the mid-90s. I will be applying for the Chase Marriott Bonvoy or the AmEx Marriott Brilliant mid-June!!!

[Zig32]

yea i dont mind the AF because of the perks and I think i will go for that one

[SouthJamaica]

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@Zig32 wrote:

Going to apply to one of these cards shortly. My fav hotel is under the Hilton umbrella but Marriott has a lot more suitable brands. What's the target score for these cards and which would you prefer?

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1. I find Hilton more useful generally.

2. IMHO the Hilton Surpass is a great card. I used to have it, then accepted one of Amex's tempting offers to upgrade to the more expensive Aspire card, only to eventually realize that the cheaper Surpass was actually a better card -- at least for my profile. I will probably downgrade to Surpass unless Amex makes me a retention offer I can't refuse

(I never had the Bonvoy Brilliant but did have the Marriott Business Bonvoy, which I eventually closed, finding it not great).

[SPChaser]

What are differences between Hilton and Marriott hotels? Have the Aspire because DW planning a trip to Hawaii, and I've obtained Titanium level with Marriott because I was placed in a Marriott hotel for a long period time due to work. I've thought of getting the Bonvoy, yet do I really want 3 $450 plus AF cards...

Edited AFs for cards 

[Anonymous]

I'd hit up the prequal page at Amex and Chase - just to see what kind of offers you get. Not sure about Chase but Amex sometimes gives a higher than advertised signup bonus if you go through their prequal (not sure I've seen it with their hotel cards but worth a shot)

Considering Bonvoy points are a little more valuable than honors points, I think the offerings for the two are fairly comparable at each price point (0 AF, 95AF, 495AF) with respect to ongoing earnings and bonus value. That probably isn't an accident. Just pick which hotel chain you like better, then pick which AF level is the best fit.

[staticvoidmain]

I'd get the Brilliant and apply for a lower-tiered Hilton later. You cannot really do the same in reverse because AMEX currently offers one Marriott card. That's what I did and I think it was a good idea — I've used both outside the US, there are places with no Hilton properties (but have Marriotts) and other places with no Marriott properties (but have Hiltons). Plus, especially abroad, they treat you much, much better for having any status at all that comes with the cards.  Plus, the Marriot card looks physically cooler (metal). That said, I removed my Hilton because of the pandemic (I have the mid-tier with AF), but will be applying again when travel gets more normal. (Did this instead of downgrading based on advice here about SUBs.)

[FormerCollegeDJ]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'd hit up the prequal page at Amex and Chase - just to see what kind of offers you get. Not sure about Chase but Amex sometimes gives a higher than advertised signup bonus if you go through their prequal (not sure I've seen it with their hotel cards but worth a shot)

Considering Bonvoy points are a little more valuable than honors points, I think the offerings for the two are fairly comparable at each price point (0 AF, 95AF, 495AF) with respect to ongoing earnings and bonus value. That probably isn't an accident. Just pick which hotel chain you like better, then pick which AF level is the best fit.

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I think Hilton annual fee cards provide a slightly higher rewards rate than Marriott annual fee cards because the credit card rewards rate for the Hilton cards (12x points for the Surpass, 14x points for the Aspire) is higher than it is for the Marriott cards (6x points for both the Boundless and Brilliant), more than offsetting Marriott's higher point valuation.  (I have Hilton Honors points valued at 0.4 cents/point and Marriott Bonvoy points valued at 0.65 cents/point, giving credit card reward for hotel stays valuations of 4.8% and 5.6% for the Hilton cards and 3.9% for the Marriott cards.  By contrast, the hotel stay reward based on status base valuations for both chains are similar when using co-branded cards for either chain.)  The Hilton cards are also better for general spend in certain non-hotel categories than the Marriott cards (restaurants on both cards, grocery stores and gas stations for the Surpass card, flights and car rentals on the Aspire card).

[Anonymous]

FYI, This is what I came up with, at 0.75 cents/pt (Bonvoy) and 0.4 cents/pt (Hilton). Those values are a guesstimate. I was thinking that I'd look again when I escape the garden to app for a hotel card next year.

At those values, they look pretty close to me. I'd probably lean toward the Bonvoy card, because $300/yr in hotel spending is easy (almost automatic), making the AF effectively $150. With the Aspire, I'm looking at closer to $300 (I don't spend more than $150/yr on airline incidentals). I should mention that the Hilton card does have a $200 Hilton resort credit. I didn't include it below, because I wouldn't ever use it. But a lot of it is preference. If you prefer Hilton properties, the Bonvoy "+"s probably aren't worth it (and vice versa). 

Bonvoy Brilliant (Amex) 

AF: $450 (- $300 Bonvoy spending credited back)
SUB: $762 (75k points = $562 + $200 dining credit)
at Marriott: 10 pts/$ (base) + 6pts/$ (card) + 2.5pts/$ (gold elite bonus) = 18.5 pts/$ (13.88% at $0.0075/pt)
dining/airfare: 3pts/$ (2.25%)
everything else: 2pts/$ (1.5%)

Hilton Aspire (Amex)
AF: $450 (- $250 Airline incidentals)
SUB: 150k pts ($600)
at Hilton: 10 pts/% (base) + 14pts/$ (card) + 10pts/$ (diamond bonus) = 34 pts/$ (13.6% at $0.004/pt)
dining/airfare/car rental: 7pts/$ (2.8%)
everything else: 3pts/$ (1.2%)